A new book – Page 4 – Peace Corps Worldwide

Review | THE LIFE OF LEE LYE HOE by James A. Wolter (Malaysia)

Aug 08 2024

A new book — The Life Of Lee Lye Hoe: An Unsung Woman Hero Amazon Direct Publishing by James A. Wolter (Malaysia 1962-66) June 2024 353 pages $16.79 (Paperback) Reviewed by: Douglas C. MacLeod, Jr. The Life of Lee Lye Hoe: An Unsung Woman Hero, written by James A. Wolter, is a fictionalized autobiography from the standpoint of a Cantonese woman whose life takes a drastic turn from being an esteemed, successful landowner to a lowly Amah (servant and nanny) in the short timespan when Communism was becoming the predominant ideology in China. She is onery, stubborn, savvy, hard-working; in many ways, Lee is forced to be obdurate, because during her formative years, her father stole the family’s savings and ran off to another country; and her mother, soon after taking in a family member’s two children (Yang and Meow), withered away and died, leaving the farm and . . .

OTHER RIVERS by Peter Hessler (China)

Aug 02 2024

A new book — Other Rivers: A Chinese Education By Peter Hessler (China 1996-98) Penguin Books July 2024 461 pages $16.99 (Kindle); $19.69 (AudioBook); $25.94 (Hardback) An intimate and revelatory account of two generations of students in China’s heartland, by an author who has observed the country’s tumultuous changes over the past quarter century More than two decades after teaching English during the early part of China’s economic boom, an experience chronicled in his book River Town, Peter Hessler returned to Sichuan Province to instruct students from the next generation. At the same time, Hessler and his wife enrolled their twin daughters in a local state-run elementary school, where they were the only Westerners. Over the years, Hessler had kept in close contact with many of the people he had taught in the 1990s. By reconnecting with these individuals — members of China’s “Reform generation,” now in their . . .

JACKLEG BOYS by Mark G. Wentling (Honduras/Togo)

Aug 02 2024

A a new book — Jackleg Boys by Mark G. Wentling (Honduras 1967-69), (Togo 1970-73) Vanguard Press 506 pages August 2024 $19.99 (Paperback) Jackleg Boys unfolds with a gripping tale of survival, transformation, and the bonds forged in the crucible of adversity. Set against the backdrop of the American Civil War’s aftermath, Henry and Randy, once privileged sons of an aristocratic Virginian family, find themselves grappling with the ruins of their past. As they navigate the harsh realities of a war-torn landscape, life becomes a catalyst for a perilous journey westward. In a quest for survival, the duo must shed their former identities and confront the moral complexities of their choices. This historical novel explores the lengths individuals go to endure and adapt in the face of calamity, challenging notions of privilege, identity, and the pursuit of a new beginning. Jackleg Boys is a riveting narrative that explores . . .

WE CAME, WE SAW, WE CHANGED edited by Dennis Warner (Tanzania)

Jul 31 2024

A new book — We Came, We Saw, We Changed:Creating a Peace Corps Legacy in Tanzania 1964-1966 by PCV Members of Tanzania 5; Dennis Warner, Editor Independently Published June 2024 245 pages This book provides a glimpse of some of the most memorable experiences in the lives of 74 Tanzania-5 Peace Corps Volunteers in the 1960s as they ventured into the little-known cultures of a country striving to enter the modern world. Told in their own words, this diversity of stories form a mosaic of life as the volunteers go about their work and play in towns, villages, and the bush. A total of 58 short stories describing key memories are clustered as “Recruitment and Training, Life in the Bush, Village Life, Urban Life, Work Assignments, Travel and Transport, Social Encounters, Health, and Post Peace Corps Stories. A common thread in most of the stories is how the experiences of . . .

Jody Olsen (Tunisia) Writes Her Peace Corps Book

Jul 23 2024

A Million Miles by Jody Olsen (Tunisia 1966-68) University of Utah Press October 2024 276 pages $24.95 (Paperback); $44.95 (Hardcover) Pre-order now When Jody Olsen enlisted as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Tunisia in 1966, she was fleeing familial tragedy and the stifling societal norms of her Salt Lake City upbringing. However, her service in Tunisia upended her religious and cultural beliefs and propelled her into a six-decade career with the Peace Corps, culminating in her directorship of the agency. Olsen’s captivating memoir, A Million Miles, reveals the personal and professional challenges she faced throughout her career, which spanned the Reagan era, 9/11, and the Trump administration. She writes candidly about her struggles as a woman in leadership, as well as personal hardships such as the sudden death of her brother and her emotionally difficult divorce after her husband’s coming out. This memoir is a sharp, vulnerable portrait, a . . .

THE BENJAMIN FRANKLIN BOOK OF QUOTES by Travis Hellstrom (Mongolia)

Jul 12 2024

a new book — The Benjamin Franklin Book of Quotes: A collection of the best quotes, speeches, and advice from one of the most influential founders of the United States of America. Edited by Travis Hellstrom (Mongolia 2008-11) 160 pages July 2024 $8.99 (Kindle); $15.00 (Hardback) • • • Benjamin Franklin is a towering figure not just in American history, but history in general. A true Renaissance man adept in politics, science, writing and more, his words have been a source of wisdom and inspiration for a long time. The Benjamin Franklin Book of Quotes compiles his best quotes, speeches, and advice in one place and reaches out to an America, and a world, which needs them more than ever. • • • Travis Hellstrom is a writer and consultant helping social entrepreneurs and nonprofitleaders dream big and expand their influence. Travis was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mongolia from 2008–2011 working in the eastern . . .

MISSION TO MALAWI by John E. Fleming (Malawi)

Jun 27 2024

A new book — Mission to Malawi — Memoir of an African American Peace Corps Volunteer by John Fleming (Malawi 1967-69) McFarland Publisher May 2024 227 pages $19.99 (Kindle); $29.99 (Paperback) • • • Unlike the vast majority of Peace Corps volunteers in the 1960s, John Fleming was a young Black man who was assigned to an all-white agricultural project in Malawi, an emerging African country surrounded by White-ruled Southern Rhodesia, Mozambique, and South Africa. John wanted to be a missionary in Africa, but was put off by his encounters with self-serving White missionaries. The Civil Rights and Black Power movements influenced his world view while navigating life in an African country still controlled or greatly influenced by racist Whites. This memoir is a moving story of coming “home” to Africa, where the author developed deep friendships with his Malawian neighbors and colleagues. The author relates his first Christmas spent with . . .

GARDENS OF PLENTY by Ron Arias (Peru)

Jun 24 2024

Kirkus review — BY RON ARIAS ‧ MARCH 18, 2024 An action-packed and historically rich novel with a compelling lead character. In Ron Arias’ (Peru 1963-64) novel set in the 16th century, a teenage orphan signs up as a ship’s boy on the Mynion, a British trading ship headed for the West Indies. Joseph Fields is 13 years old in 1567, when he flees the orphanage where he’s lived since his parents and sister succumbed to the plague two years ago. His father was a scrivener, as was his father before him, and Joseph learned the skill at his dad’s knee. He gets a job on a trading ship and sails away from England with only three significant possessions: his mother’s wooden spoon, her comb for removing lice and nits, and his father’s penknife, which has a cryptic engraving on the handle. Each will prove to be invaluable on his dangerous journey. . . .

SILENT LIGHT | A novel by Mark Jacobs (Paraguay)

Jun 13 2024

A new book — Silent Light by Mark Jacobs (Paraguay 1978-80) OB Books June 2024 340 pages $18.95 (paperback) • • • At the start of Mark Jacob’s remarkable new novel ― his first book in thirteen years ― thirty-seven-year-old Smith wins a “stash” of diamonds in a poker game. The only catch: he has to find them. A Louisiana native, Smith is currently employed on an oil platform off the west coast of Africa, while the diamonds are somewhere in the immense, war-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo. But Smith’s grown tired of the platform and he hates the idea of wasting a full house. One last adventure, he tells himself, and then, diamonds or no diamonds, he’s heading home to Louisiana. In Kinshasa, Smith meets a young woman named Béatrice, who hails from a village on the other side of the country. But this village, she tells Smith, is . . .

LEAP by Brent Love (Armenia)

Jun 11 2024

A new book — Leap A Memoir by Brent Love (Armenia 2009-11) Manuscripts Press June 2024 452 pages $14.99 (paperback); 14.99 (Kindle); $37.99 (Hardcover) • • • In a small Texas town, Brent comes out to his parents, and on that night his place in the world cracks wide open. Unmoored from his family but unwilling to give up on his dream, Brent enters the Peace Corps with the incredible task of navigating an unfamiliar land, a new language, and a new identity as a gay man in post-Soviet Armenia. As he grapples with a religious past and a queer future, Brent finds himself immersed in a culture he’d never imagined. He moves in with Armenian families, celebrates his first Nor Tari, hunts mushrooms in the mountain mists, and dances in Yerevan at his first gay bar, all while hoping for and trying to find romance, even love. When his Peace . . .